Check arm



July 26, 19 38. J, ROETHEL 2,125,247

CHECK ARM Filed June 22, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

A TTORAEYS.

July 26, 1938. J ROETHEL 2,125,247

. CHECK ARM Filed June 22, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 13/? 4/ 11v VENTOR E. E. J'obzy 11. 770621282.

BY ,QL/Q, QM M A TTORNE Y5.

Patented July 26, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHECK ARM Application June 22,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to supporting and locking arms, preferably of the toggle type, sometimes called check arms, particularly although not exclusively adapted for use on swinging deck or trunk lids for automobile or'other vehicle bodies.

An object of the invention is to provide a check arm or device of the foregoing kind characterized by its simplicity and sturdiness of construction and wherein positive latching means of improved character is provided for maintaining the jointed parts of the arm in extended position when the lid is raised, the improved construction being such that the latch may be readily and easily released to lower the lid with complete safety to the operator so that the danger, as heretofore, of injury to the fingers or hand by being pinched between the folding parts of the arms is eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a check arm which is operated and controlled solely by the movement of the deck or trunk lid to which it is attached, and in which the locking and/or releasing of the check arm is effected by said lid movement without the necessity of handling the check arm mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a check arm of the'foregoing character which automatically counterbalances the weight of the deck lid, not only assisting in raising the same but also resisting lowering thereof under the weight of the lid.

Other objects of "the invention will appear from the following description and appended claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation, partly In section, illustrating thecheck arm mechanism with the lid in open locked position.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the lid in elevated and unlocked position ready to be lowered into closed position.

Fig. 3 is a detail elevational view, on an en larged scale, of the check arm mechanism, taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 2, showing the lid in partially closed position.

Fig. 5 is a view of the parts shown in the preceding views with the lid in closed position.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illus- 1936, Serial No. 86,441

trated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways.

Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art.

In the drawings there is illustrated, merely by way of example, one embodiment of the present invention adapted for use in connection with the trunk lid of an automobile body. The body (not shown) includes a back panel 2| pressed outwardly and rearwardly to form a trunk compartment 22 having an opening 23 adapted to be closed by means of a trunk lid or cover 24 hinged at 25 to the back panel along the upper edge of the opening 23.

The lid 24 is preferably maintained in closed position-by means of a conventional lock (not shown) and is adapted to be held in open elevated position by means of a check arm device or mechanism preferably attached to the left wall or end of the trunk compartment and to the lid adjacent its left edge. The check arm comprises preferably a pair of toggle links or bars 26 and 21. The lower bar 21 is pivoted at 28 to a stationary bracket 29 fixed to the body panel. The

upper bar 26 is pivotally connected to a bracket 3|, fixed to the inner face of the trunk lid 24, by means of a pin or rivet 30 secured to the bar and having a limited sliding connection in a slot l8 formed in the bracket 3|. The inner end of the bar 21 is pivotally connected to the bar 26 at a point spaced from its inner end through the medium of a pivot pin or rivet 32 which is fixed to the bar 21 to move with said bar. The pin is journalled in the bar 26 to permit relative movement thereof. The inwardly projecting end of the pin 32 is provided with a transverse slot to receive the inner end 4| of a band spring 40, the opposite end 42 of the spring being secured to a portion 26a of the bar 26 which projects beyond the pivot 32. As shown, the spring is wound or coiled around the pivot pin 32 in a clockwise direction and with the parts in the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 5, with the deck lid closed, the spring is wound up or loaded. Thus, when the lid is moved upwardly toward open position, the spring 40 expands or unwinds and thus helps to counterbalance the weight of the lid and facilitate the raising thereof. As the lid is lowered, with the end 26a of the bar 26 moving outwardly away from the end of the bar 21 (see Fig. 4) the spring 40 is The bracket Si is provided with slots 3hr which cooperate with bolts 25 so that the bracket may be adjusted upon the inner face of the lid 24 to permit the proper positioning of the check arm with respect to the trunk and its cover.

. The inner or free end of the depending portion of the bracket 3| is provided with a notch 311), a cam or convexly curved portion 3lc, a concave portion or recess Md and a curved finger 3le. The bracket 3i provides a keeper for a latch member 50 pivoted at 5| to the inner face of the bar 26. The latch member hasat its outer end a pointed finger portion or pawl 52 and a rounded opposite end 53. The inner end of the latch member carries a pin or headed stud 54 which engages the notched outer end 56 of a spring projected locking plunger 55, thestem of which is surrounded by a spring 51. The upperv end of the spring engages the under face of the head 56 and its lowerend rests upon an aperturedretainer 58 fixed to the bar 25. The spring plunger 55 is oscillatable in the retainer 58 and provides a snap-over spring device for positioning the latch 58 in operative or inoperative position.

The bar 26 is cut away at 26?): and the metal thereof turned inwardly at an angle to the bar to provide a lug or stop 25c with which the pivoted latch 55 engages when in its position of Figs. 2 and 5. The bar 26 carries adjacent its inner end 250. a stop pin ,or stud l9 which engages the bar 2'! (see particularly Fig. 3) to prevent'the bars from moving to the right beyond their positions of Figs. 1 and2. As seen in Fig. 1, when the lid is in elevated locked position the pointed portion or pawl 52 of the latch is in engagement with the notch 3). In, this positionthe inner end of the latch is positioned to the. left, the

spring pressed rod or plunger 55 serving to maintion of Fig. 1 to its full line position of Fig. 2.

This movement of the lid causes the finger 3le to engage the portion 53 of the latch and oscillate the latch about its pivot so that its inner end is snapped over to the right of its dead center position, as shown in Fig. 2. In this position the pawl or finger 52 has been withdrawn from the locking notch Mb. The lid may now be free ly lowered toward closed position, during which movement the cam surface 3H0 rides over the adjacent edge of the pivoted latch (see Fig. 4) with the bars swinging downwardly together and with the bar 26 moving toward the bar 21. This action winds up the band spring 40 placing it under tension. When the lid has been moved into fully closed position as shown in Fig. 5, the rounded end 53 of the latch is again located within the recess 3Id and the pawl 52 engages the nose 3| 1. The inner end of the latch is now held toward the right of the bar 26. When it is desired to raise the deck lid the reverse action takes place, the cam porti0n3ic and the nose 3! riding over the adjacent edge of the latch 50 until the pawl 52 thereof engages in the notch am to lock the parts together in elevated position. During this operation, the latch is oscillated from the right of its dead center position to the left and is held in the latter position in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a check arm device or mechanism for a trunk lid which operates automatically upon .movement of the lid to lock the parts together with the parts in open position and to release the locked parts to permit the lid to be lowered, without the necessity of the operator touching the check arm mechanism. The counterbalancing spring interconnecting the ends of the pivoted links or bars of the check arm mechanism serves to lift a portion of the weight of the lid during its elevating movement and to counterbalance the weight of the lid as it is being lowered into closed position.

I claim:

1. ,A check arm for a swinging lid or the like comprising an upper bar and a lower bar, the lower bar having a fixed pivot pin at its inner end and the upper bar being swingably mounted upon said pivot at a point removed from its adjacent inner end, a bracket carried by said lid, the outer end of said upper bar being pivotally connected to said bracket and the outer end of said lower bar being adapted to be pivoted to a support, said bracket having a notch formed in an edge thereof, a spring pressed latch member carried by said upper bar and adapted to engage said notch to releasably lock the lid in raised p0- sition, and a counterbalancing spring connecting the adjacent ends of said upper and lower bars for counterbalancing the weight of the lid during its movements toward open and closed positions.

2. A check arm for a swinging lid or the like comprising an upper bar and a lower bar, the lower bar having a fixed pivot pin at its inner end and the upper bar being swingably mounted upon said pivot at a point removed from its adjacent inner end, a bracket carried by said lid, the outer end of said upper bar being pivotally connected to said bracket and the outer end of said lower bar being adapted to be pivoted to a support, said bracket having a notch formed in an edge thereof, a spring pressed latch member carried by said upper bar and adapted to engage said notch to releasably lock the lid in raised position, said bracket having a finger for engaging said spring pressed latch to release the same whereby to permit the lid to be lowered, and a counterbalancing spring connecting the adjacent ends of said upper and lower bars for counterbalancing the weight of the lid during its movements toward open and closed positions.

JOHN H. ROETHEL. 

